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Jury finds Needelman guilty of all charges. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 4

1:15 p.m. Oct. 31 update:

At about 1 p.m. jurors sent a note to Judge Marlene Alva saying they had a question as whether there were multiple counts of each of the four charges. The jurors were brought into the courtroom, where Alva explained that Needelman was charged with a single count for each of the four charges: Bribery, conspiracy to commit bribery, bid tampering and official misconduct.

Needelman is charged with bribery, conspiracy to commit bribery, bid tampering and official misconduct. If convicted of all charges, Needelman could face up to 45 years in prison.

At the heart of the state’s case are allegations that Needelman in 2012 awarded contracts to BlueWare Inc. in exchange for campaign contributions, most notably an $8.52 million contract to scan old court documents stored in converted junior high school gym.

Over nearly eight days of testimony, prosecution witnesses laid out how BlueWare received the contracts, got paid in advance for work it hadn’t done, and how Needelman’s campaign manager, who received more than $250,000 from BlueWare, paid for some of Needelman’s campaign costs.

The key witness was former BlueWare chief operating officer Nick Geaney who testified that he met with Needelman and a campaign adviser, Matt Dupree, at Needelman’s house in March 2012. At that meeting, Dupree said the scanning contract would happen, Geaney testified, but that it “would have to be beneficial to us all,” to which Needelman nodded. “You know what I mean?” Dupree asked.

But under cross-examination, Geaney acknowledged that he was testifying under immunity from prosecution and that he had been fired from BlueWare just prior to the scanning contract being signed. He also acknowledged legal and financial problems unrelated to BlueWare. Other BlueWare employees or former employees testified that Geaney had been fired for embezzlement and had a reputation for “untruthfulness.”